Unstock Your Website Photos

You have your small business website all setup – you have your text, you have your pictures on the site, you’ve even worked on your search engine optimization to make sure people find your site. But it still isn’t converting visitors into customers.

Could it be the images on your website? Let’s take a closer look.

Today we know that images play a very important role in what attracts people’s attention. Images engage people and keep them on your website longer or maybe read more of your most recent social media post. But not all images are created equal.

Stock Photos

Stock photos are frequently used on business websites. What are stock photos? Stock photos are images available from websites for download that are licensed to be used commercially in websites, printed materials, social media, etc. License use can generally be obtained at a low cost and websites selling stock photos typically provide a search engine to help you find an image that almost works for your business.

Despite a low barrier to entry, stock photos do present issues to a business aiming to build relationships and convert customers.

First, it can be very time consuming to find an image that fits your business brand. One can search for hours through stock photo sites and never find something that fits your business perfectly. You then settle on something that isn’t the perfect fit, which in turn can lead to fewer conversions from your website.

Second, anyone can license a stock photo – including your competitors. Once you’ve found an image that sort of works for your business, have you checked to be sure no one else is using that image? If two businesses are using the same photo it puts your business at a disadvantage to showing the uniqueness of your brand.

And finally, there have been studies done that show consumers today tune out stock images. Their gaze doesn’t linger on them [1]. This leads to people missing key pieces of your business brand. The images you think are helping build relationships with potential customers are being ignored. This impacts one of the main purposes of your website!

Real Photos

But what if you invest in photography that is your business brand? After a business branding engagement your business will own images that directly reflect you and your brand. Here’s how photography customized for your business helps you gain more customers [2].

Professional interior and exterior pictures of your place of business helps people be more comfortable the first time they visit. They will recognize the building more readily – either as they drive by and think “hey, I’ve seen that building on Facebook before” or know they have the right place when they arrive. Stepping into the office or showroom the first time will be familiar, because they will have seen it before in blog posts or shared social media posts.

Capturing professional images of your staff in their environment will help forge the relationships you need with your customers. They will more readily recognize staff and the business will have a more human, personal feel by showing genuine people at work.

If you business uses service or delivery vehicles, having images of your own vehicles further increases brand recognition. Instead of seeing a stock delivery truck in your digital images, they see the actual vehicle. When potential customers see the trucks about town, a subtle mental trigger will tie seeing the truck to your website images to the truck – putting your business at top of mind.

These are just some of the ways utilizing real photos of you and your business help with your conversions. It gives you a distinct advantage against your competition if you can build these more authentic touch points with your potential (and current) customers. Photography specific to your business brand do more to promote recognition than stock photography.

How Jeffrey Tadlock Photography Can Help

Jeffrey Tadlock Photography can help your business or personal brand get the photos you need. I will take the time to learn what your business stands for and what vision you want to communicate to your potential customer. From there I plan a custom photography session to capture the elements that make your business yours.

If you are interested in business branding and personal branding photography just use the Contact button above to send an inquiry. I am happy to answer your questions!

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